Two Handed Warriors

Education

The surprising institutions that refuse to drop the liberal arts, by Jon Marcus

The surprising institutions that refuse to drop the liberal arts, by Jon Marcus

As mainstream universities and colleges cut liberal-arts courses and programs in favor of more vocational disciplines, and the number of students majoring in the humanities continues to decline, unexpected types of institutions are expanding their requirements in the liberal arts with the conviction that these courses teach the kinds of skills employers say they want, and leaders need: critical thinking, problem-solving, teamwork, and communication.

By Two Handed Warriors | October 20, 2015 | Liberal Arts | No Comments |
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The Endangered Liberal Arts College, by Jason Jones

The Endangered Liberal Arts College, by Jason Jones

Saving Sweet Briar (for now) doesn’t undo the disinformation campaign against the liberal arts, who comprise about 4 percent of U.S. colleges and do extraordinary things typically not found in any other institution type. Data supporting this claim of quality can be found in multiple studies (outlined and hyperlinked below), and it deserves some attention because such dedication to uncompromised quality in a close academic community falls on deaf ears in our national conversation that focuses primarily on quantity, scale and technology.

By Two Handed Warriors | June 22, 2015 | College, Education, Liberal Arts | No Comments |
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The ‘Story Behind the Story’: Making Lit Matter, by Erick Sierra

The ‘Story Behind the Story’: Making Lit Matter, by Erick Sierra

As American society increasingly questions the importance of what we in the humanities do, in the classroom I’ve been able to depend less and less on the grand narratives that long ago motivated my own passion for literature and instead imagined an importance for literature—a story behind the story—sourced not in grand abstract metanarratives, but in what students themselves find viscerally and deeply important.

By Two Handed Warriors | April 9, 2015 | College, Cultural Influencers, Educational Leaders, Story | No Comments |
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